It is with a very heavy heart that I share with you that Gunthar has passed on. I realize now how much I relied on him, more so than he relied upon me. He was in every way my baby. He picked us to be his caretakers, his 'parents', his world. He was the first of his litter to venture outdoors, taking that first step with confidence. At the tender age of 5 weeks he chose us.
He was the best kind of dog, loyal and loving and a little bit naughty. He liked to 'help' me cook, meaning that he was glued to my hip looking at everything that I was doing, hoping to get a morsel of whatever it was that I was cooking. He loved to go on his walk everyday, just as he loved to get up on the couch or bed and laze around with us.
You can barely see him here as he blends in with the couch so well. The worst part (for me anyway) is that this happened while we were on vacation. The pups went to the kennel on Saturday, we left Sunday (there is no drop off on Sunday) and he passed on Sunday afternoon at approx 2-4pm, we're not sure when. We had just landed and picked up our keys to the condo as T got the call. We knew it was bad news because the kennel never calls us, but I never expected this kind of news. As T was taking the call I started shaking and say, 'Please no, please no...' over and over again. I was bargaining with God or anyone who was listening, but it was too late for bargaining. He died of bloat, what Sydney had just a few months ago, that we were very, very lucky to catch. You lose them within an hour, if you even get that much time. I just weep for him as he died in pain and alone, not knowing what was happening to him. I weep for Sydney as they've never been apart for more than a few days when she was in the hospital. It did not seem real. We couldn't pick Sydney up until today because of the holiday. So we just went on with life on Thursday night and Friday as if everything was the same as we left it, that we would pick up both the pups Saturday. It was just before we left for the kennel when T put away Gunthar's food bowl and left only one of the water bowls out that it started to hit me. Something small, a detail that I teared up over, reality was coming fast. I cried silently all the way to the kennel and wept openly as Sydney came out from the back...alone. They handed us his leash and food, I put it in the truck as Sydney jumped into the back as if to say, "Okay, let's get the hell out of Dodge!" And I wept all the way home. She came in the house and could smell him so she checked out all of the rooms. Everything about this was breaking my heart.
He was a great pup, a strong and loving soul put into a dog's body. My baby boy.
